Cheng² Duo | October 29, 2023 | House Program

CLASSICAL / BADER & OVERTON COMPETITION ALUMNI SERIES
CHENG 2 DUO
Bryan Cheng, Cello and Sylvie Cheng, Piano
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29 AT 2:30 PM
CLASSICAL / BADER & OVERTON COMPETITION ALUMNI SERIES
CHENG 2 DUO
Straight from the Heart
Bryan Cheng, Cello and Sylvie Cheng, Piano
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29 AT 2:30 PM

CLASSICAL / BADER & OVERTON
COMPETITION ALUMNI SERIES
CHENG 2 DUO
Straight from the Heart
Bryan Cheng, Cello and
Sylvie Cheng, Piano
PROGRAM
TSINTSADZE
Five Pieces on Folk Themes
No. 1 Villain’s Song on a Carriage
No. 2 Tchonguri [Traditional Georgian 4-string lute]
No. 3 Sachidao [Georgian Fighting Folk Dance]
No. 4 Nana
No. 5 Dance Tune
WIANCKO
Sonata No. 1 for Cello and Piano, Shifting Baselines
Part I: Steady stroll—Flowing
Part II: Free—Angular—Calm—Driving
Part III: Glacial—Moto—Unwavering, but not too fast—Steady stroll
INTERMISSION
SIBELIUS Andante molto in f minor, JS 36
RACHMANINOFF Sonata for Cello and Piano in g minor, op. 19
Lento – Allegro moderate
Allegro scherzando
Andante
Allegro mosso

PROGRAM NOTES
Except for his cello and composition studies at
Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Sulkhan
Tsintsadze (1925-1991) lived in the Sovietcontrolled
country of Georgia. He is considered
one of Georgia’s most original and prolific
composers of the 20th century, and, like many
of his colleagues, often had to work under the
USSR’s artistic constraints of simplicity, easy
accessibility and the incorporation folk music and
culture into his music. However, the Five Pieces
on Folk Themes rise well above any feeling of
compromise, as can be heard in the vibrancy of
the second movement’s imitation of a traditional
Georgian 4-string lute for solo cello alone, the
middle movement’s depiction of wrestling
combatants, and the energetically humorous
dance finale.
American composer and cellist, Paul Wiancko
(b. 1983) recently joined the highly acclaimed
Kronos Quartet. As one of the most respected
and cutting-edge new music ensembles on the
concert stage, this appointment is an impressive
achievement. Like Tsintsadze, Wiancko certainly
uses his knowledge and experience of playing the
cello to create a highly distinctive and individual
composition in his First Cello Sonata. Wiancko’s
own comments on this work describe how it was
influenced by Beethoven’s C-Major Cello Sonata,
particularly in the way that Beethoven utilizes
the cello’s natural resonance and displays a fairly
no-frills-approach to harmony and rhythm. This
directness can be heard in Wiancko’s sonata in
the way that each of the work’s ten sections are
primarily focused on a new textural colour. The
best example of this singular process can be
heard in the cello’s passage of gradually rising
C-Major scales that slide upwards through the
piano’s block chords. The “Shifting Baselines”
subtitle is most noticeable in the work’s outer
sections where the left hand of the pianist exactly
doubles the cello’s pizzicato bassline.
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957), undoubtedly Finland’s
most famous composer, grew up playing the
violin in a family piano trio. Although his younger
brother would become a medical doctor, he was
clearly a proficient cellist, as many of Jean’s cello
compositions, including this Andante molto
in F minor, were written for him. This short
piece features a cadenza-like middle section
for the cello that provides a brief contrast to
the outer sections.
With 2023 marking the 150th anniversary of
the birth of Serge Rachmaninoff (1873-1943),
his Second Piano Concerto, Op. 18, seems to be
programmed with even more frequency than
usual. It is worth mentioning this very popular
piano concerto because the Cello Sonata on
today’s program was written at approximately
the same time and shares the same passionate
chromatic language and a focus on supercharged
and romantically inflected, melodic
writing. Rachmaninoff composed the Cello
Sonata to perform himself, alongside the greatly
admired Russian cellist, Anatoly Brandukov, to
whom the work is dedicated. In addition to the
already mentioned expressive melodic writing,
when hearing this sonata performed live it is
often the unbelievably dense piano writing that
leaves one awestruck. This pianism is so brilliant,
it is easy to get swept away in the cascading
piano figuration through which the cello must
project with the highest level of impassioned
intensity possible.
©2023 by John Burge for the Isabel
ABOUT CHENG 2 DUO
Rooted by a sibling bond that transcends the
familial, the Cheng 2 Duo (pronounced Cheng
Squared Duo) transfixes listeners through
its impassioned expressivity and contagious
joy—critics have hailed their performances
as “brilliant” (The Sunday Times, UK), “truly
exhilarating” (The WholeNote, Canada), and
“absolutely captivating…through a tremendous
mastery of their instruments” (Pizzicato
Magazine, Luxembourg).
Cellist Bryan Cheng, prizewinner of the 2022
Queen Elisabeth Competition and Verbier
Festival’s coveted Prix Yves Paternot, and
pianist Silvie Cheng, 2022-23 Cecilia Concerts

Musician-in-Residence and National Arts Club
Artist Fellow, have been making music together
for nearly their entire lives. Since officially forming
the Cheng 2 Duo at their 2011 Carnegie Weill
Recital Hall debut, their artistry has left lasting
impressions across the globe, with extensive
tours to illustrious concert halls and international
festivals throughout North America, Europe,
Asia and South Africa.
Recent highlights include recitals at the
Frauenkirche Dresden, Flagey (Brussels),
Munich Künstlerhaus, California Center for
the Arts, Dame Myra Hess Series (Chicago),
Chamber Music at the Clark (Los Angeles),
Harvard University (Cambridge), Isabel Bader
Centre for the Performing Arts (Kingston),
Orford Musique, Salle Bourgie (Montréal), Palais
Montcalm (Québec), as well as Chamberfest
Cheboygan, Ottawa Chamberfest, and Toronto
Summer Music Festivals. Past performances
and interviews have been broadcast on CBC
Radio, ICI Musique, Radio-Canada International,
Vermont Public Radio, WCRB Classical Music
Boston, WCNY Classic FM, Kulturradio RBB and
Südwestrundfunk (SWR2) Germany, ORF Austria,
and Classical Radio Orpheus (Moscow).
In the vanguard of creative programming, Bryan
and Silvie are equally committed to presenting
traditional masterworks, rediscovering neglected
repertoire, and championing the music of their
time. Since 2013, they have commissioned
and arranged 15 new works, as well as curated
cross-disciplinary concert experiences that
meld classical and contemporary music with
jazz, poetry, and visual/media arts. Worldclass
collaborative partners have included
photographer and cinematographer Edward
Burtynsky, Mercury Films, and multimedia
studio Normal.
Cheng 2 Duo has previously released a trilogy of
critically-acclaimed albums on the German label
audite: Russian Legends (2019), Violonchelo del
fuego (2018), and Violoncelle français (2016).
Born in Ottawa and Tokyo to Chinese parents,
Bryan and Silvie are proud Canadians who are
currently based in Berlin and New York City.
For more information, follow @Cheng2Duo
on social media. ●
Capella
Cracoviensis
CLASSICAL / ENSEMBLE SERIES
Saturday, Nov 25, 2023, 7:30 pm
Based in Krakow, Poland, Capella Cracoviensis
chamber choir and orchestra is one of
the most exciting ensembles on the
contemporary scene of period music.
They will make their Isabel debut with
a special program of Bach.
Tony Siqi
Yun, piano
CLASSICAL / SOLOIST SERIES
Friday, Dec 1, 2023, 7:30 pm
Combining poetry and elegance, charismatic
young pianist Tony Siqi Yun is known as
“a true poet of the keyboard” (Pianist
Magazine). He will perform an intriguing
showcase of Bach, Liszt, Beethoven, Berio,
and Brahms’ powerful third Sonata.
TICKETS: queensu.ca/theisabel · 613-533-2424 / General Public $45+ / Faculty/Staff $41+ / Students $10+